Manufacture of fuel



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renewin Be it known that l, EDWIN C. WALLACE, citizen of the United States, residing at West Roxbury, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have. invented certain new and useful Improvements in Manufacture of Fuehof whichthe following is a specification.

duction of briquet fuel, employing peat or similarsomewhat wet material as one of the ingredients, a cementitiousmaterial, of the nature of Portland cement as another ingredient, and either. finelyedivided coal (e.

g'., coaldust), partly dried peat, or other pulverulent or comminuted combustible material, as a third ingredient, the prodnot being made upinto theform of briquets of any desired size and shape. In this specification where reference is made to the formation of briquets, this does not imply, oris" notintended to imply, any particular size or shape. -The briquets may be, and preferably are made into a. size approximating that of coaliready for main stoves or furnaces, but if desired the briquets can, of course, be made considerably larger, and subsequently be crushed or broken. Such practice, however, is generally not to be recommended, it being. considered preferable toamake'the briquets directly into the size andshape in which they are to be finally used as fuel.

Ordinary wet peat as taken from the bogsgcontains a large amount of water.

. The amount of water varies greatly, diii'er- I; ent. materials carrying from 75% to 90%,

or even a slightly higher percentage than In drying peat down to what may be termed the air dry condition, there are certain chemical changes which take place whereby the material it added to water will not reconstitute the original materlal, some of the properties having been changed, per- The present invention relates to the pro-v Application fil ed .lfune 10, 1920. Serial 1V0. aezeso.

haps by bacterial action or by oxidation produced invarious ways.

In the preferred mode of carrying out the process of the present application, peat which has been partly dried in air so that the moisture content is reduced to approximately 40% is combined with peat containing a larger percentage of moisture anda previously prepared mixture of finely divided dry combustible matter, such as coal dust, and a'cementing agent, such as Portland cement, capable of combining with and hardening in the presence of moisture.

While .theproportions may vary within wide limits the mixed mass should be plastic so as to be readily molded. It has been found that a mixture of parts of peat (combined wet and partially dried) containing about 55% of moisture, with 75 partsof a previously-prepared mixmeet 90% bituminous coal (finely di vided) and 10% of Portland cement, gives excellent results. By substituting about 20%01 fine ground sawdust for coal in the above mixture (i. e. a mixture of 70% coal, 20% sawdust, 10% Portland cement) the proportion of dry combustible materialre quired was reduced to 50 parts thereof to 400 parts of the moist peat.

This mixture is then made up into balls, briquets,or the like, preferably using some pressure in molding the same. (although high pressure is not necessary), after which the blocks or briquets are allowed to dry in the open air. This drying may, under ordinary weather conditions require a week or longer. Tests made with the fuel prepared as described hereinbefore have shown it to compare favorably with ordinary coal. lln the molding operation, no very great pressure is necessary. In an experimental way it has been molded by hand, i; e., by squeezing a handful of the material at a time, in the manner of making ordinary snow-balls. In place of the bituminous coal, there may be substituted sawdust, etc, other kinds of substantially dry carbonaceous matter, e. g., hard coal slack, culm, well dried peat, saw-dust,comminuted paper, paper pulp, dry lignite, wood meal, chaff, straw, and the like, or mixtures of such materials, all in a well dried condition. It is, however, preferable to use, with the substances just mentioned, a substantial content of dry, finelydivided coal. This mixture of the wet peat with whatever material or materials are to be used (c. g, the 47 5 parts above mentioned) should be in the form of a plastic mass, of stifi putty-like, or stii'l dough-like consistency.

The above mode of procedure, that is mixing partially dry peat with wet peat to produce a peat mixture of about 50 to 55% of water, which then, in turn is to be mixed with the mixture of dryv combustible material and a cementing agent, is preferable to merely drying the entire body of peat down to 55% of water, since better control of moisture content is obtainable and a far better final product is produced, which will dry much more quickly.

The Portland cement, this should be preferably mixed with the dry combustible matter and this mixture added to and mixed with the mixture of wet and dry peat. Portland cement is here mentioned as an example of a suitable dry material, although other hydraulic dry plasters or cements may be employed, such as plaster of Paris, hydraulic lime, or in some cases even ordinary quick lime.

In making up the plastic mass, the Portland cement, or equivalent dry material, is first. mixed, e. g.,'by grinding, with a dry combustible material, asabove stated. This latter, during. the final mixing operation, acts as an extending material for the cement (thus causing it to be much more thoroughly disseminated throughout the mass of wet peat). The dry cement accordingly will gradually absorb from the wet peat, enough water to make the cement harden orset properly, however before the final settin of the cement,the mass is molded or shaped into 'briquets, ballsor the like.

In the claims which follow hereinafter,

the term, hydraulic, as applied to the .Patent No. 773992.

cement and to the cementitious binder therein named, it is intended to describe or specify a cementitious substance which, when treated with water, tends to harden or set, and to distinguish such cementitious material from mucilaginous or sticky adhesives of the nature of the glutin described in United States Patent No. 948812 and of the pentosane mentioned in United States It is to be observed that the finely-divided coal serves not only to increase the calorific value of the fuel hereinbefore described, but also to extend, distribute and disseminate the hydraulic cement throughout the mass of the mixture andto bring the hydraulic cement into intimate contact with the wet peat, from which, when the cement-carrying coal is intimately incorporated therewith, the hydraulic cement takes up the water necessary to cause it to harden and set and, in doing this, to bind the ingredients of the fuel into a hard, solid mass.

I claim-- 1. A process which comprises mixing about 4.00 parts of peat having about 50% of water with about parts of a mixture consisting of 90 parts of substantially dry combustible matter and 10 parts of dry hydraulic cement disseminated therethrough, forming into briquets and drying.

2. In the manufacture of briquet fuel, the improvement which comprises mixing a partially dried peat containing about 50 to 65% of water with a mixture consisting of substantially dry combustible matter and a. dry, hydraulic cementitious binder disseminated therethrough, in such proportions as to produce with the peat a plastic mass, shaping the plastic mass and drying the product.

In the manufacture of briquet fuel, the improvement which comprises mixing peat containing between 40 and 65% of Water, the peat comprising a'mixture of a relatively wet peat and a relatively dry peat, witha less bulk of a mixture of a substantially dry combustible material and a dry, hydraulic cementitious binder disseminated therethrough, in such proportions as to produce with the peat a plastic mass, shaping the plastic mass and drying the product.

4. A process of making briquet fuel from material including somewhat wet vegetable material of the nature of peat, which comprises mixing withthe wet material, a minor fraction only of its weight of a mixture containing relatively dry combustible matter and a dry calcareous cement capable of uniting with water to harden, such proportions being suilicient to produce a stiff doughdike mass, and forming the same into briquets, and thereafter allowing such briquets to dry.

53. A process of making fuel briquets from peat which comprises drying one portion of the peat, to substantially below 60% of water, mixing the same with another portion of the peat containing a substantially greater percentage of water than said firstmentioned portion, and with a dry pulverulent cementitious material which is capable of combining with water and hardening, incorporated with a dry extending material such materials being mixed in such pro rtions as to produce a plastic mass, melting such mass into briquets and allowing such briquets to dry.

6. A process of making fuel briquets consisting largely of the dry matter of peat, which comprises mixing wet peat with peat which has been exposed to air and from 1,443, lot

which; a considerable proportion of the Water has been dried out, such two materials being mixed in such relative proportions as to produce a mixture containing between 40% and 62% of water; separately mixing a calcareous cementitious binder with several times its Weight of substantially dry combustible material; intimately mixing a large quantity of such first mentioned mixture With a small quantity of such second mixture, shaping the resulting plastic mass,

whereby the cementitious binder can absorb and combine with a part of the Water of the peat, and drying the product at a low temperature.

lin testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

EDWIN C. WALLACE. [1b. a] Witnesses:

E. W. DALEY, Jonn r1. 

